While watching a horror film, it is expected that the audience would scream rather than laughing hysterically, right? This is because a scream is the expected response that someone may have in that specific scenario. However, in literature, demonstrating the responses that characters have is mostly done through speaking their mind and declaring their thoughts in order to get the point across. A perfect example of this kind of response exists in William Shakespeare's Henry VIII when Cardinal Wolsey responds to his dismissal from court. What makes his response even more impecable is that Wolsey is trying to express more than one feeling, thus making his response a complex one. Through the use of allusion, metaphors, similes, and a bitter tone, Shakespeare conveys Wolsey's bitterness toward no longer having to perform his duties and that he also desires the demise of the prince. …show more content…
Throughout the speech that Cardinal Wolsey makes, there is a clear distinction between two parts in which convey that Wolsey is very bitter after being relieved of his duties and that he desires the downfall of the prince.
In the former half, Shakespeare makes use of multiple metaphors and similes in order to showcase how angry Wolsey is about being dismissed. In one such instance, he compares hopes to blossoming fruit and the death of those hopes with a "killing frost." Wolsey is being bitter here since he works up the expectation of the hopes only to have them killed when the killing frost, most likely referring to a person, arrives. Not only does Wolsey mention the hopes that he possessed, but also of the struggles he experienced in order to get where he is in that moment of time. Shakespeare has Wolsey say that "I have ventur’d, like little wanton boys that swim on bladders, this many summers in a sea of glory, but far beyond my depth," and through the use of a simile, demonstrates the struggles faced by Cardinal
Wolsey. Moving on to the latter half of Wolsey's response, in which he wishes for the downfall of the prince, Shakespeare utilizes the element of allusion, as well as more metaphors and similes. One of the metaphors used in this portion was that Wolsey's pride had "at length broke under" him. While his pride can not literally break under him, this does provide how Wolsey met his downfall. In fact, after he states that his pride broke under him, he renounces the "vain pomp and glory of this world" and says he hates it, the same vain pomp and glory that he participated in. However, now that he has realized the evil of these ways he wishes for the others who act in such ways to fall in ruin just like he has. The person that Wolsey mentions first is the prince who he wishes to fall like Lucifer. Lucifer is also known as Satan, the angel who fell from Heaven and into hell after he attempted to become more like God, or became vain and proud. Since Lucifer's fall was great, and since Wolsey greatly despises the prince, it makes sense that he would want the downfall of the prince to be similar. Once again, throughout the response of Cardinal Wolsey, Shakespeare utilizes multiple literary tools in order to demonstrate the complex response that he had wanted to create. The use of metaphors and similes primarily helps establish the bitterness that Wolsey feels, while the allusion to the fall of Lucifer and the overall bitter tone showcase his desire to see the prince fall in power, similar to how he did.
Passage Analysis - Act 5 Scene 1, lines 115-138. Shakespeare’s ‘King Henry IV Part I’ centres on a core theme: the conflict between order and disorder. Such conflict is brought to light by the use of many vehicles, including Hal’s inner conflict, the country’s political and social conflict, the conflict between the court world and the tavern world, and the conflicting moral values of characters from each of these worlds. This juxtaposition of certain values exists on many levels, and so is both a strikingly present and an underlying theme throughout the play.
Assessment of the View that Henry VIII’s Wish for a Male Heir Was the Main Reason for the Break with Rome
After many failed attempts to obtain a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon, King Henry VIII took momentous steps that led to "The Reformation," a significant occurrence in the history of religion. Prior to the reformation, all of England's inhabitants including King Henry VIII prescribed to Catholicism. In fact, King Henry VIII was such a strong supporter that he was given the title "Defender of the Faith" by the pope for his efforts in protecting Catholicism against the Protestants. However, all these changed upon the pope's denial of Henry's request for a divorce.
Cardinal Wolsey begins the speech by discussing the state of himself when he began his job by using metaphors to describe them. “Tender leaves of hopes” is the figure of speech Shakespeare uses to describe the initial aspiration held by Cardinal Wolsey when starting his job. He then goes on to say “to-morrow blossoms” showing that his job looked secure for the future. He finally uses the phrase “And bears his blushing honors thick upon him” showing the pride and the honor which he held with such a position. The tone of the metaphors then change to say that once his greatness began, it “nips his root” and a “killing frost” began. By continuing the same metaphoric tone of nature, Shakespeare shows that the greatness Cardinal Wolsey once held in his position is suddenly and
In the play Henry VIII by Shakespeare, Cardinal Wolsey is facing a great hardship: he just lost his position as advisor to the king. To hi, this position meant a great deal and now he does not know what else life has in store. He has lost the one thing that made him truly happy. Shakespeare uses these elements and a dismal tone to convey to the reader the intense shame and embarrassment that Wolsey feels.
William Shakespeare is a renowned writer for his effectiveness in writing, which is hailed from crafting his pieces with various types of literary devices. Cardinal Wolsey's soliloquy after being fired in Shakespeare's Henry VIII is no different. Shakespeare uses allusion, figurative language, and a shifting tone to hone in the complex and passionate set of emotions Wolsey felt.
The given documents are examples of the monarch’s ability to assert their authority through word. The different proclamations illustrate the problems of the time, and how the assumed power of the monarch addressed it. It is assumed that their power goes to include power over the church and all papal authority, ultimate power over Parliament, power over other lands, and it goes as far as suggesting that their power has been bestowed upon them by God. The assumed nature and extent of the Tudors’ power alters over time, each king reacting to a different situation. King Henry VII establishes a strong and clear claim to the crown for the Tudors when there were doubts about his claim. King Henry VIII extends the power of the monarch by annexing the
In the play Henry V written by Shakespeare. Henry was presented as the ideal Christian king. His mercy, wisdom, and other characteristics demonstrated the behavior of a Christian king. Yet at the same time he is shown to be man like any other. The way he behaves in his past is just like an ordinary man. But in Henry’s own mind he describes himself as “the mirror of all Christian kings” and also a “true lover of the holly church.
King Henry VIII was one of the most powerful rulers in the fifteenth century, who had a very captivating life many people are not aware of. Most people know Henry VIII as a berserk king with too many wives, but there is more to Henry VIII than that. Many few people know about his life and what he truly contributed to our world. Henry VIII was an almighty leader in England who won’t soon be forgotten.
Much of the dramatic action of Shakespeare’s tragedy, Hamlet is within the head of the main character, Hamlet. His wordplay represents the amazing, contradictory, unsettled, mocking, nature of his mind, as it is torn by disappointment and positive love, as Hamlet seeks both acceptance and punishment, action and stillness, and wishes for consummation and annihilation. He can be abruptly silent or vicious; he is capable of wild laughter and tears, and also polite badinage.
In the words of Harvey Fierstein, “What looks absolutely fabulous in rehearsal can fall flat in front of an audience. The audience dictates what you do or don't change”. Clearly, the success or failure of any work of art depends, almost entirely, on its ability to engage and connect with its audience. Shakespeare, one of the greatest playwrights in history, certainly understood this concept. He targeted his Elizabethan audience skillfully, drawing them in and manipulating the way they interpreted his works. This is evident in one of his renowned plays, Hamlet. Attempts to target the audience are evident throughout the play, but focusing on one speech can provide a greater appreciation for Shakespeare’s deliberate efforts. In act four, scene two, while explaining that Polonius is dead, Hamlet says:
Primarily, mood can be identified in the following passages: ‘“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!”’(II, II, 577) and ‘“For Hecuba!”’(II, II, 585). From Hamlet’s sudden outbursts, it is identifiable through the Shakespeare’s use of words and exclamation marks that Hamlet’s soliloquy is not going to be pleasant. The mood is set when Shakespeare uses words such as “Rogue”, “Slave” and “Hecuba”
Hamlet is left so distraught by his father 's death and his mother’s quick remarriage of his father’s brother that he wishes to die. Hamlet begins his soliloquy with a metaphor that shows his desire for death: “Oh, that this too, too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw,
When one thinks of Henry the eighth the first thing that comes up is fat, wife-killer, meat eater, old, mean and overall horrendous. But almost no one refers to him as misunderstood, manipulated or young man who was not meant to be King of England. This is how Suzannah Lipscomb portrays Henry VIII in her book, 1536: The Year that Changed Henry VIII, King Henry faces many tribulations in 1536 that shaped the rest of his reign; from his marriages, injuries, heirs, to his influence in the European spectrum.
Shakespeare uses a variety of metaphors and descriptive words to describe Hamlet’s emotional state. Hamlet is saying here that he wishes that his flesh would melt away and dissolve. He goes on to say that he wishes that God had not made suicide wrong. Terms like weary, stale, and fl...